Aussie great's 'stardom' warning for Smith

1 year ago 82

Australian golfing fable Adam Scott knows countryman Cameron Smith is "being pulled successful each kinds of directions" but is impressed with the ongoing composure from the 29-year-old.

Smith is backmost Down Under to play the Australian PGA Championship astatine the extremity of what has been a arguable and rollercoaster twelvemonth for the talented Queenslander.

He won the Open Championship successful July - his maiden large rubric - past a fewer weeks aboriginal defected from the PGA Tour to articulation the LIV Golf league, instantly earning hundreds of millions of dollars successful the process. He was No.2 successful the satellite astatine the time.

Watch each the enactment from the 2022 Australian PGA Championship connected Nine and 9NOW.

It was unclear what benignant of reception helium would get from Aussie fans upon returning location for the archetypal clip successful 3 years, but Smith was welcomed location with unfastened arms, and connected Thursday was followed astir Royal Queensland by a swarm of fans, immoderate wearing "Team Smith" shirts.

He besides played Wednesday's pro-am alongside retired rugby league champion Cameron Smith, who handed his golfing namesake a Maroons State of Origin jersey.

"Obviously it's breathtaking that Cam's coming location to play disconnected the backmost of the twelvemonth that he's had and we had a beardown group," Scott told media aft shooting 5-under successful the archetypal circular of the Championship.

"Cam has had a emergence to stardom this year. He's being pulled successful each kinds of directions I'm sure, but it's thing he's astir apt learnt beauteous rapidly to negociate astatine large events.

Aussie Smith reacts to homecoming

"I get to observe from reasonably adjacent to Cam arsenic practice-round buddy oregon whatever, helium does a truly bully occupation of focusing erstwhile helium needs to absorption and helium has a bully enactment squad astir him to instrumentality attraction of a batch of distractions.

"I truly don't person excessively galore worries astir Cam, but hopefully helium tin bask the acquisition arsenic well, due to the fact that that period of play oregon truthful erstwhile I came location that twelvemonth is 1 of the large memories of my career.

"You bringing it up jogs my representation of it and I conscionable had a large period benignant of celebrating with everybody."

The twelvemonth Scott was referring to is 2013, erstwhile helium won The Masters - his archetypal and lone large rubric to date.

Smith and Scott - who are adjacent friends - played the archetypal circular unneurotic astatine Royal Queensland. Smith finished the time 3-under, 2 shots down his mate.

"Scotty was playing truly nice," Smith said afterwards of Scott.

"He's coming into signifier the aged fella, I think, truthful helium mightiness beryllium hard to pursuit down implicit the weekend."

Smith and Scott were 1 of the earliest tee-offs, but a ample assemblage was already connected people astatine 6am to ticker the brace successful action.

"It was beauteous unreal. I truly wasn't expecting that," Smith said.

"I was astir apt expecting much astir the 9th, 10th, the turn, truthful yea it was cool. I deliberation the crowds volition decidedly implicit the adjacent mates of days support getting amended and better."

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